A Different Kind of Love
by Jasper's Second Choice
Summary: When Jacob seems to be avoiding Bella again, Edward tells her what is going on. But all may not be as it seems...
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hi, and welcome to my first fanfic in...well, in so long that it might as well be my first one ever. I own nothing- I only wish!-, all characters belong to the beautiful and talented Stephenie Meyer. Many thanks to Jenn for being such a fantastic beta reader--you're a doll.

And now, onto the story.

Edit--I have re-added in the chunk at the end that mysteriously disappeared when I uploaded this chapter. Sorry about that!

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I groaned, standing up from where I sat on the couch in Edward's bedroom, slamming my book shut—I wasn't retaining anything, anyway--and moving to stand and stare out the window at the ever-present downpour. Time was moving way too slowly this weekend. Edward and his family were gone on a hunting trip, and it felt like they'd been gone for weeks instead of just a few days. Edward had left me a key-just in case, he'd said. I'd told him he was being silly at the time, that of course I'd be fine, but as time passed I found myself glad that he'd left the key. I felt a little bit less alone, even though I couldn't get in touch with my best friend.

It had been four days since I'd talked to Jake. Not by choice, mind you-I just couldn't seem to connect with him. The phone was almost never answered; and when it was, it was Billy with yet another lame excuse. More often than not, the phone rang ten or twelve times and then I gave in and hung up, knowing that they weren't going to answer. I just couldn't figure out why Jake was avoiding me now. It wasn't like the last time, when he was first a werewolf, ordered not to tell me, and avoiding me for what he thought was my own safety. We had no secrets now. It couldn't be my upcoming wedding to Edward-I hadn't discussed that with him since I'd told him my choice. He'd said we would stay friends, and I didn't want to jeopardize that by discussing an extremely taboo topic (in his mind) with him. And yet, I hadn't seen him, or even heard from him, in what was starting to feel like forever. I missed my best friend.

"Bella?" A familiar, musical voice jolted me out of my musings.

"Edward! You're home." I said, pushing myself away from the windowsill to turn and wrap my arms around him tightly. "In fact, you're early! I missed you. How was your hunting trip?" I asked as I pressed my lips to his.

He laughed as he kissed me in return. "You know, love, it is difficult for me to answer you when you follow up your questions like that. The trip was fine. I came back early because I didn't need to be gone anymore, and there was no way I was staying away from you if I didn't have to."

I looked into his eyes and saw that they were a clear, light butterscotch colour. "I'm so glad you're home." I said, clinging to his marble-hard chest by entwining my fingers in his shirt. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his cheek on my head.

"I'm glad I'm home too. You looked very unhappy when I came in here. Has something happened?"

"Well," I said, pausing, "It's more that…nothing's happened. In days." Edward looked at me blankly. "It's Jacob, Edward," I said, watching his expression carefully. He was more accepting of my best friend now, particularly since Jake had agreed to stop pursuing me, and as our wedding day drew closer and I made it clear that I wasn't going anywhere, but I still wasn't quite sure how he'd react to this. "I haven't been able to get ahold of him, and Billy hasn't gotten any more creative since the last time this happened, which means Jacob's avoiding me. I don't know why." I noticed Edward's facial expression change slightly, then return to its' neutral expression. I looked at him suspiciously. "What's that about?" I asked.

"Well…" Edward said.

"Edward Anthony Cullen. What have you done?" I asked, feeling anger growing in my chest.

"Only what I would have wanted done for me, if it were the other way around." Edward said, calmly.

"What did you do?" I asked, furiously, my voice low. "Edward, if you have done something to make me lose Jake earlier than I have to-"

"Well, first of all, you don't have to, period. I'd be quite alright if the circumstances in which you would have to lose his friendship never came to pass, quite frankly." Edward jumped in.

"However, it will come to pass, and that's not the point." I said. "So you'd better have a really good excuse for this."

"I didn't do anything, Bella!" Edward said. "I sent him an invitation to the wedding. That's it."

I stared at him in shock.

"I'm sorry; I must have heard you wrong." I said, slowly. "Could you repeat that, please?"

"I invited him to the wedding." Edward said.

My eyes welled up with instant tears. Whether they were tears of anger, sadness, or both; I wasn't sure.

"I have to go for a walk," I said. "I'll be home later." I said, turning and walking away from the man that I had pledged to spend eternity with.


	2. Chapter 2

I walked out of the house and started down the insanely long driveway that led from my Edward's family's home to the road. I knew I wouldn't have made it far before Edward's sister came after me, as she'd have seen me leave, but she was quicker than I expected.

"Bella," came the soft voice of my closest girlfriend and soon to be sister in law, Alice Cullen. I knew I'd never get away from her, so I stopped. This proved to be a bad idea; I sank to my knees, the uncontrollable sobs rising now as I crouched in the pouring rain.

"I'll never see Jake again." I choked out. "I was supposed to have more time."

"He didn't want to hurt you, Bella. He didn't want to hurt Jacob, either. He just wanted to give him the choice, no matter what." Alice said, kneeling and wrapping her cold arms around me. I sank into her stone chest and continued to sob, my tears staining her probably overpriced shirt.

We sat there for a good fifteen minutes, with Alice just holding me.

"Bella?" she said, hesitantly. I sniffled.

"Yes, Alice?" I asked her.

"We really should get you inside. You didn't get a jacket when you left, and now you're sitting here with me. You're freezing." It was only when she spoke the words that I realized she was right. I was freezing, and my whole body was shivering in the cold. She stood up and held out her hand to me. I took it and she lifted me to my feet without effort.

"Alice, your shirt. It's soaked. I'm sorry." I said, finally looking at her.

"Really, it's fine, Bella. Don't worry about a thing. It's not like I don't have three thousand shirts." She smiled, and even I couldn't help but crack a small grin, because I knew she was probably not too far off with that estimate, even though coming from most people that would have been an exaggeration of the highest order. It didn't take long for the smile to fade off my face, though.

"What am I going to do, Alice? I was supposed to have time…I was supposed to be able to say goodbye, but now Jake has been hurt and I don't know if he'll speak to me again." I said, as she led me back up the long driveway.

"You know I can't see him, Bella. I don't know what his plans are. I'm sorry. There isn't anything I can do. I know, it's not much help, and I feel rotten that I can't do anything for you." Alice said, and I could hear real regret in her voice.

"I know, Alice. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I know you can't see Jake, and I know that makes you feel helpless and useless sometimes. I just wish that I could do something. Anything." I sighed as we walked into the bathroom so I could grab a towel for my dripping wet hair.

"Well…I'm going to let you dry your hair off, Bella. I'll see you soon, okay? Come and get me anytime. Or, well, you could try, anyway." She shot me an impish grin as she headed out of the bathroom. I knew what her sudden disappearance meant, and it had nothing to do with my hair. I sighed and turned around just as Edward was entering the bathroom. He stood there, just inside the doorway, and just looked at me, an unreadable expression on his beautiful face. I moved towards him and stood on my tiptoes, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry, Edward." I murmured into his chest. He stood steadfast, but suddenly I felt his chest begin to quiver and shake. I looked up and saw his previously solemn face contorted in laughter.

"What on earth is so funny?" I asked him.

"I hurt you beyond measure, and you apologize to me?" he managed to get out between laughs. "Bella, my love, you silly, silly girl, you have nothing to apologize for. But please do understand that while I still stand by what I did, I had no intention to hurt you and I'm sorry that my actions have resulted in your being hurt."

"I knew I was going to have to say goodbye eventually. I just wasn't expecting it to be so abrupt. I'm sorry I freaked." I said, smiling.

"Bella, darling, if you hadn't freaked I'd have wondered who you were and what you'd done with my Bella." Edward smiled that crooked smile that I so loved, and at that moment everything was okay. Well, for that moment, anyway. I knew the feeling of peace that surrounded me had less to do with Edward's presence and more to do with his brother, Jasper, who I was fairly sure was standing just out of my sight, behind Edward, in the doorway to the bathroom.  
"Hello, Jasper." I said, sighing resignedly. "I know you're there, and because you are there, I can do nothing but feel okay about that." I laughed.

"Hi Bella." He said, stepping from being directly behind Edward but still not entering the room. "Alice thought maybe you needed a bit of help."

"I'm fine, Jasper. But thanks. And thank Alice for me, too, ok?" He smiled.

"I will." And he slid off in that obscenely graceful way that all of the Cullens had about them-the one that made me feel about as graceful as an elephant attempting ballet.

"Bella, there's some food for you in the kitchen, if you're hungry." Edward said. "I know it's getting to be about the time you usually have dinner." I looked at the clock. He was right.

"I don't really feel like eating," I started to say, but I saw the look on Edward's face and changed my mind mid-sentence, "but I guess I could force down some dinner."

"Good girl." Edward said, grinning at me as he took my hand and led me downstairs to the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning in my own bed, at Charlie's house, with Edward's arms wrapped around me. I rolled over to face him and saw him smiling that crooked smile that often meant he was internally laughing at me.

"Morning, you…so happy already?" I mumbled, sleepily. He chuckled.

"I'm always happy when I'm with you, Bella. I'm happy to be back with you." He said, then paused for a moment. "However, Charlie will be less than happy in about one minute, if he finds me here, so I'll be back momentarily." And before I could even see where he moved to, he was gone. Not a moment later, there was a knock on the door.

"Bella honey?" I heard Charlie's voice waft through the wood.

I groaned loudly. "What Cha-what, Dad?"

"Bella, are you decent?" he asked. I groaned again, and pulled the blanket up over my pyjama top to my chin for effect.

"Yes, Dad. Come in if you need to." I said, loudly, as the door opened.

"Are you feeling okay, Bells?" he asked me, hovering just inside my door. He was nervous about something, I could tell from the way he was wringing his hands and constantly shifting his weight.

"I'm fine, Dad. Why?" I asked, curiously. I'd been home by curfew last night, and as far as Charlie knew, I'd been in bed at a reasonable hour.

"Well, you just don't normally sleep this late, Bells, and now you're all covered up to your chin. I thought maybe you weren't feeling well." Charlie said,

"I'm fine, Dad!" I repeated. "Now, please. Can I have some privacy so that I can get dressed?" I asked, in an exasperated voice.

"Yes, yes, of course. I'm going down to La Push to watch the game with Billy, Bells, so I'll see you later on tonight." He said, turning to leave my room.

"Wait. Dad, you're going to the Black's?" I asked him, sitting up like a rocket and letting the blanket fall to cover just my lap.

"Yeah, why, Bella? Do you want to come? See Jake?" he asked, grinning. I knew my dad still hadn't given up hope that maybe I'd give Jacob a chance. _In another life, maybe, Charlie. But not now. _I thought to myself.

"Actually, dad, Jake's been avoiding me. I was wondering if maybe you'd be able to find out why when you were down there." I said, casually. Charlie looked puzzled.

"What do you mean, Bells? Jake's not avoiding you. He called about an hour ago, actually-it didn't sound like anything was different between you. He seemed pretty eager to talk to you, actually." Charlie said. I pushed the blankets off of my lap entirely and stood up. Too quickly, I noted as I stumbled, reaching my hands out to steady myself on the nearest wall.

"Have fun with Billy, dad. I'll call Jake back after I'm dressed." I said, moving towards my dresser. Charlie nodded and left the room, closing my door quietly behind him. A moment later, I heard Edward's voice coming from the general vicinity of my closet.

"Are you actually getting dressed, or were you just getting rid of Charlie?" he asked me. "Because if you're actually getting dressed, I'm staying here until you're finished." He had a note of humour in his voice.

I sighed. He was such a _gentleman _sometimes. "Yes, Edward, I'm getting dressed." I said, as I pulled on the red t-shirt I'd just pulled out of my dresser. A pair of black cords followed. "Okay, Edward, all homosexuality references aside, you can come out of the closet now. I'm dressed." I said, as I pulled out a pair of socks and sat down to put them on, since obviously remaining standing while attempting to put on socks was out of the question.

"So, this is weird." I said, taking the hand that Edward offered to help me stand up.

"What's weird, love?" he asked, pulling me into his arms again. I rested my cheek against his hard chest, wondering why he was playing so dumb. He had to have heard Charlie's news-probably even before I did. It was only my thoughts he couldn't hear, after all.

"Jake is totally MIA for almost a week, and apparently he's now calling at the crack of dawn like he didn't just vanish on me. It's a little weird, don't you think?" I asked him, turning my face to look up into his far more beautiful one.

"A bit, I suppose. But you know what would make it less weird?" Edward asked me, that crooked grin appearing on his face again.

"Let me guess," I said, sighing. "Calling him?" I asked. My mind may have been the one on the planet that Edward couldn't hear, but he knew me well enough to know that I'd be hesitant to return Jake's call, no matter how badly I wanted to talk to him.

"Yes." Edward said. "Calling him would clear up this confusion."

"It might," I said, "if he would tell me the truth about where he's been. We both know that Jacob likes to protect me." I paused, my mind developing ideas I wanted to avoid. "Or else he's been given orders to not tell me what he's been doing recently."

As a werewolf, Jacob was forced to follow orders from his Alpha, Sam Uley. That caused a lot of tension-and absence-between us when he first became a werewolf, because Sam had told Jake that he couldn't tell anyone-including me. That had been the catalyst for the last major avoidance period of Jake's, and I worried that this might be something similar. Although what Jacob wouldn't be able to tell me now, I had no idea-Sam had a pretty liberal disclosure policy with me now, since the Cullens and the Quileute werewolf pack had banded together to save my life. I began to wonder if maybe, with the battle being over, that had changed, and I was officially considered some kind of enemy to the pack. I knew Sam had never completely trusted Edward, even when they were working together, but I'd hoped that until I became a vampire, as well, Sam would still see me as a friend to the pack. Edward and I headed downstairs and I picked up the phone in the kitchen. I stared at the buttons unenthusiastically.

"Bella, love, call him. You'll be tense and miserable all day if you don't at least try, and then I'll have to bring you home and make you sit with Jasper all day. Do you really want that?" Edward asked me. I looked up at him and glared, which brought a smile to his face. "That's my girl." He said. "I'll be in the next room if you need me." He turned and left the room, gracefully as always. I looked down at the phone again and dialed the familiar numbers that-hopefully-would lead me to my best friend again.

"Hello?" Came a familiar voice after barely a full ring was finished.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Nope, still don't own anything, except the plot of this particular story. All characters etc belong to Stephenie Meyer, wondrous woman that she is. Thanks as always to my beta-reader VBC, who helps my story to not suck and actually make some semblance of sense.

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Despite having been told by Charlie only a few minutes before that Jacob had called me, I wasn't expecting the phone to be answered so quickly.

"Jacob!" I exclaimed, a bit louder than I'd intended.

"Ow. Hi, Bella," he said, and I could practically hear the smile in his voice. "I called you earlier, but Charlie said you were still asleep."

"Yeah, bad insomnia last night," I said quickly, continuing with the excuse I'd given Charlie. "I've been trying to get in touch with you for a week, Jacob Black. Where on earth have you been?" I asked him, furiously.

"Has it really been a week since we last talked?" Jacob asked, and I could hear real wonder and confusion in his short question. _How could he not have realized how much time had passed? _I wondered.

"Um, yeah, Jake, it has been. I've missed you-where have you been?" I asked, embarrassed by how much hurt was revealed in my voice.

"I've just been hanging around," he replied, "not doing much of anything at all, actually., just hanging out with friends. I met a friend of yours, actually. She was down at the beach with her family."

I couldn't help but notice the almost dreamlike tone to his voice when he mentioned my friend. "Which friend was it?" I asked, suspiciously.

"Angela," Jacob told me, and the dreamlike tone to his voice remaining. "Angela Weber."

"Oh," I said. "was Ben there too? Or was she just there with her family?" I asked him.

"Just her family…who's Ben?" he asked.

"You've seen him on other beach trips, I'm sure. It's Angela's boyfriend," I said, placing a very slight emphasis on the word boyfriend. If I was interpreting Jacob's tone of voice correctly, he'd developed a crush on Angela, my friend from school, and he'd already caused me enough heartache by making me fall in love with him while I was already in love with Edward-I certainly didn't need him causing Angela that kind of trouble.

"So, Jake," I said, changing the subject. "Edward told me that he sent you an invitation to the wedding. I'm really sorry. I'm sure it must have hurt you, and I really hope that's not why you've been out of touch," I said. "I hadn't planned on sending you an invitation. I-I just didn't want to rub it in your face."

"No, Bella, it's fine. Don't worry about that. I'm cool. I know that he was trying to do something nice. Must've been hard for the bl-sorry, for Edward to do something like that for me-you know, our kinds being mortal enemies and all," he said.

I blinked. This conversation was not going the way I'd expected it to at all-or at least, the way I would have expected it to go if I'd had any expectations. Actually, given that my only expectation had been that Jake would ignore my call yet again, I supposed I hadn't really had any expectations of how the call would go once I finally did get in touch with him again.

"Bella?" he asked. My silence must have been longer than I'd thought.

"Yeah, I'm here Jake. But, actually, I've got to go. I haven't eaten anything yet, and I'm starved suddenly." I wasn't, but he didn't need to know that.

"Sure, Bella. Call me soon, okay? We'll get together. I really want to see you."

"Sure, Jake. Yeah. I'll call you soon," I said, hanging up the phone slowly and feeling myself drop. Thankful that there was a chair right underneath me, I put my elbows on the table and rested my forehead in my palms. _What in the world is going on with Jacob?_ I wondered. I knew that Jacob was keeping something from me-but the problem was, I don't think even he knew that. It wasn't intentional, I was almost 100 sure of that. As I debated the situation mentally-was Jacob keeping something from me? Was he doing it intentionally? Had the time really just slipped by for him? What was going on?-Edward re-entered the kitchen and slipped cold arms around me from behind and leaned over to whisper in my ear.

"So, did you get in touch with him?" he asked me.

"Yes," I said, sadly, "but I don't know why he was avoiding me before. He says he wasn't, and like Charlie said earlier, he was talking like there'd been no time at all since our last conversation. In fact, when I mentioned it had been a week, he said he hadn't even noticed. How could it possibly seem like no time at all to him, Edward?" I asked, feeling a pang of guilt that I was mourning the loss of my time with Jake to Edward, who knew how I felt about Jacob regardless of the fact that I had, in the end, chosen to spend the rest of my life-mortal or otherwise-with Edward and not Jake. I knew my feelings for Jake hurt Edward, even though they didn't change the way that I felt about him, or the fact that I couldn't live without him. He never told or showed me that it hurt him, but I was certain that it did. I stood up and turned to face him, entwining my fingers with his much colder ones.

"Well, time does pass differently when you have a nearly infinite amount of it and need little to no sleep, Bella," Edward said. He would know, I guess, being immortal and requiring no sleep himself. Jake did need to sleep, but he needed it far less than any normal human being, and he, like Edward, was not currently aging. However, my expression obviously betrayed the doubt I still felt about Jacob's mysterious lack of sense of time, because Edward added,

"Let it be for now, Bella. Jacob has told you all that he is going to for now. Whether or not there is more to what is going on here remains to be seen, but we'll find out soon enough. You told him you would call him soon-call him tonight and make plans with him, if that is what you wish. But for now, we have more time to make up. I was gone for two days-that's far too long for me. Even if I am immortal and don't need any sleep. Really, I'm amazed you made it through the two days without getting yourself in trouble," he said, smiling down at me with that crooked smile of his that never failed to make me melt.

I glared at him, trying too hard to focus on keeping my knees from becoming more of a gelatin substance than actual cartilage and bone to form any actual words.

"Why, what have I done now?" Edward asked, the crooked smile disappearing to show a mask of confusion. And a mask it was-he knew exactly what he'd done that was causing the look I was sending his direction.

"You're dazzling me, and you know it. Trying to make me forget about my worries by looking at me that way, and smiling, and-" I lost my power of speech when he turned his gaze to me again.

"Oh, you mean like that?" he asked me innocently. I did my best to glare at him again, as I knew any verbal protests would be shot down by yet another look before I could get my meaning across. He laughed and let go of one of my hands.

"It's a nice day. Let's go to our meadow," he said, leading me towards the door.


	5. Chapter 5

I didn't end up calling Jacob that night. Edward and I were at the meadow until well after I was supposed to have made dinner for Charlie, and I used Edward's small silver cell phone to call him apologetically as Edward drove me home. Charlie was surprisingly easygoing about it—he'd ordered a pizza, he said, and told me to not worry and that he was glad I'd called, at least. I had to admit, that was a little bit weird. I'd expected at least a minor freak-out due to my being so late. Not that seven in the evening was really all that late, but considering the fact that Charlie usually likes to eat around five-thirty, it was later than I should have been home to feed my culinary-challenged father. I arrived home only about ten minutes after I'd called him, thanks to Edward's ridiculous driving.

"I'll see you soon, love," he said, leaning over to give me a quick peck on the lips and smiled his beautiful crooked smile at me.

"I do need to be able to get out of the car, Edward," I said to him, smiling weakly. "I'll see you very soon. I love you," I said, as I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door. I climbed out of the car, holding onto the doorframe for support to make sure that I didn't trip, and smiled at Edward before I shut the door. I knew he'd probably be in my room before I was. I, after all, had to provide some illusion of normalcy for Charlie. I walked up to the front porch and opened the door, which I knew would be unlocked. Charlie never locked it when he was home.

"Hi Dad!" I called out. "I'm home now."

"Hi honey. How was your day?" he asked me.

"Oh, fine, Dad, thanks. I went hiking with Edward," I said, as I entered the living room, where he sat, as always, watching a baseball game. "Anyway, I think I'll just have a piece of pizza and then head upstairs. I should probably email mom. It's been a few days since I last did, she's probably going nuts." _Plus Edward will be up there,_ I thought to myself, smiling.

"Okay Bells. Sounds good," Charlie said, completely engrossed in his game. I wasn't even sure he'd heard most of what I had said; otherwise I was sure there would have been some kind of major reaction to the concept of me hiking. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a slice of pizza. I wolfed it down, and then stuck the pizza box with the leftover pizza directly in the fridge.

"Alright dad, I'm heading upstairs now. I'll probably be up there until I go to bed, so I'll say goodnight now."

"Okay, Bells. Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning. Wait, no I won't. I'm leaving early to go fishing with Billy in the morning, so I'll be gone when you get up. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, dinner time at the latest," he said, and then turned back towards the TV. I knew I wouldn't be getting another word out of him for the rest of the night, and that he'd leave me well enough alone, which would give me the whole night to spend with Edward. I ran up to my room eagerly, tripping only once halfway up the stairs.

"Hi, Edward," I said, smiling as I entered my bedroom. I stopped when I didn't receive a response. "Edward?" I asked the air. Suddenly I felt cold, marble arms wrapped around my waist.

"Hello love," came the voice I was constantly longing to hear. I smiled and wiggled in his grasp until I managed to turn to face him.

"Darn, I thought I'd beaten you for once," I said, looking up into his perfect features. He chuckled.

"I hope you never give up on your dreams, Bella," he said. I rolled my eyes. "What?" he asked. "It does make life more interesting when you try to live at a high speed—and keep Charlie from getting suspicious—all for the sake of beating me somewhere." His laugh was infectious, and I couldn't help but join in despite the fact that he was teasing me again.

"I really do have to email my mom, though," I said, knowing he would have heard my conversation with Charlie. "I wasn't kidding when I said it had been days. She's probably nearly having a heart attack, thinking we've decided to elope or something. I'm surprised she hasn't called yet." As though I'd sparked an idea in someone, somewhere, the phone rang. I knew that Charlie was engrossed in his game and that by the time he realized he had to get the phone, the caller would have hung up, so I dashed out into the upstairs hall to grab the phone and answer the call.

"Hello?" I said, a bit breathlessly.

"Bella!" Exclaimed a familiar female voice. "How are you?"

"Angela," I said, trying to mask my surprise. Angela wasn't normally quite that enthusiastic, especially on the phone. "I'm fine, thanks. How are you? How's your break going?'

"It's great, thanks. Hey, I'm going down to First Beach tomorrow. There'll be a bunch of people there, and I haven't seen you since graduation. Will you come?" she asked me.

"Sure, Angela. I'd love to. I have some friends in La Push that I wouldn't mind seeing, too. I'll give them a call and ask if they'll join us. That's okay, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah of course! I think some of the Quileute kids are coming already anyhow," she said, "so maybe your friends are already coming."

"Hmm…maybe," I said. "What time are we going down there?"

"I'll pick you up. Ten okay?" she asked me.

"Yeah, ten's perfect. Okay, I'll see you in the morning then, Angela. 'Night."

"Night, Bella! See you tomorrow."

I hung the phone back up on the receiver and walked back into my bedroom.

"So, the beach tomorrow?" Edward asked. I knew it wasn't really a question—he'd heard every word of Angela's and my conversation.

"Yeah. I haven't seen Angela in a long time, and I thought I'd like to have one last relaxed day with her. You know, I mean, she'll be at the wedding, but I'll probably have other things on my mind, and so I'd like to hang out with her before that too."

"Of course, Bella. I was wondering if you were going to spend a day with Angela, actually. I'm glad you're going. It'll mean that I have the opportunity to do a few things. But do try not to injure yourself, okay? Alice will be watching, you know." I shook my head at him.

"That's really unnecessary, Edward," I said. "I'll be with plenty of people, and I'm hoping that Jacob will come. You know I'm safe with him." Edward sighed.

"Yes, you do tend to be about as safe as you could be without me around when Jacob is there. I do still worry, though," Edward said. I sighed.

"I know you do," I said, wrapping my arms around him and hugging him tightly.

"Well, best not start lying to Charlie now," he said, as he returned my hug. "Go email Renee. I'll wait over here." He perched on the end of my bed. I walked over to my desk and sat down. Edward had evidently started up my computer already; it must have been while I was on my way upstairs, because he hadn't done it while I was in the room. I was glad he had done it, as my ancient computer took forever to boot up. I read the four increasingly anxious emails from Renee, and promptly emailed back a short response.

_Hi Mom, _

_I'm fine, please relax. The weather has been surprisingly good lately, so I've been outside a lot. I've even been hiking with Edward a couple of times—can you imagine? Tomorrow I'm heading to the beach with some friends, since the weather is supposed to be nice again. I'm not expecting that to last long, so I'm taking advantage of it while I can. _

_Don't worry, I'm not going to take off with Edward and elope without saying anything. _

_I'll talk to you soon Mom. _

_Love,_

_Bella._

I closed my email window and shut my computer down. "Edward, I'm going to take a human minute," I said, smiling. I knew that phrase amused him.

"Sure, love. I'll be here waiting," he said, smiling. I walked over to the end of my bed, placed a quick peck on his cold lips, and grabbed my pyjamas before heading out the door.

"Dad, I'm getting in the shower! Don't run any water, okay?" I called down the stairs. There was no response, which was typical during a game. I sighed and walked downstairs. I was too paranoid about the shower running cold to risk him not hearing.

"Dad?" I said, as I entered the living room. I was right—he was rooted to the TV, not moving as the final seconds of the game ticked by. I sighed and waited for it to end. There was just no point in talking to him until it was done. When it finally ended, I spoke again.

"Dad? I'm going to take a shower, so don't run any water, okay? I'm probably going to turn in early after that. I'm exhausted from hiking with Edward today, and I'm going down to First Beach tomorrow with Angela. I thought I'd call Jake in the morning, too, and see if he'll come," I said.

"Sure, Bells. Sounds great. You and Jacob haven't hung out in a long time. Same with you and Angela, actually. Sounds like it'll be a good day tomorrow. Night, honey. I'll see you tomorrow." He was always so agreeable when it had to do with the possibility of me seeing Jacob.

"Night again, Dad. Have fun fishing tomorrow." And with that, I headed back upstairs to let the hot water pound against my back. I didn't know what was going to happen tomorrow, but I was going to call Jake first thing in the morning, before Angela came to pick me up, to see if he was coming. I had a feeling I was going to need to be as relaxed as I could be to deal with him tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I don't own anything. Also, I apologize for my delay in getting this next chapter up, as well as in the writing of Chapter 2 of my other story, Fading Day. Illness plus writers block plus college graduation equals a huge delay. I'm working away at it, I promise!

--

I awoke the next morning to a soft song in my ear. It was the most beautiful sound I could ever remember hearing. My eyes stayed closed as a smile spread across my face and I snuggled backwards into Edward's chest. The singing stopped as Edward greeted me.

"Good morning, love," he whispered.

"Good morning, Edward," I said, as I rolled over to face him. "What time is it?" I asked.

"Nine-thirty. I don't know if you wanted more time to get ready to go, but I was feeling selfish this morning. I wanted to have the opportunity to keep holding you, since I'll be losing you for the day." I clung to his completely unwrinkled shirt. He must have gone home to change not long before I woke up.

"Be selfish any time you like. I should get dressed, though, since Angela will be here soon." I moved to get up, and discovered myself immobile.

"I've decided to be selfish a little longer," Edward said, looking down at me with his crooked smile before pressing his lips gently to mine. I fought with my senses, trying to force myself to remain coherent so that I wouldn't lose control.

I lost.

My hands untwined themselves from his shirt to move up and lock behind his neck, holding him tightly and pressing his mouth more firmly to mine. He allowed this for just a moment before reaching behind his neck to gently release my hands, sighing.

"Oh, Bella," he said. "Always in such a rush."

"Oh, like you didn't encourage it," I pouted. He smiled.

"I admit, I probably did encourage it a bit," he said, with not a hint of remorse in his voice or on his face.

"A bit," I grumbled. "I'm getting dressed, Edward," I said.

"I'll see you downstairs," he grinned, and disappeared.

Because the day was, as promised, beautiful and even—I was almost afraid to think it, in case it jinxed things—warm, I pulled on a pair of jean shorts and a blue tank top with wide straps. I ran down the stairs, holding tightly to the railing to prevent the imminent fall that would have come had I tried this unsupported, and found Edward sitting in the kitchen waiting for me, the phone in his outstretched hand.

"I believe you had a call to make this morning," he said. I was shocked that not only had he remembered, he was encouraging me to call Jacob. He must have really gotten over the whole me-having-a-thing-for-Jake thing.

"Uh, yeah," I said, taking the phone from him. I quickly dialed the familiar digits and put the phone to my ear and listened to it ring.

Once…

Twice..

Three times….

I was about to hang up when I heard a familiar, but very groggy, voice.

"Hello?"  
"Oh, Jake!" I said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Uh…" he mumbled, clearly not quite comprehending my words yet. "Oh, Bella!" he exclaimed, suddenly clear on who it was on my end of the phone. "No, no it's fine! You know you can call me anytime," he said. I could almost see him, in my mind's eye, bolting upright on his bed. I laughed.  
"Yeah, okay, Jake. Stop trying to pretend you weren't dead asleep when I called," I laughed, and he joined in.

"Yeah, I was. But it's no big deal. What's up?" he asked.

"I'm going down to First Beach with Angela and I guess a few other kids today. I wanted to know if you and the guys wanted to come and hang out. Angela said some of the Quileute kids were coming already, but I didn't know if you were among them, so I figured I'd see if you wanted to come hang out. You did mention that you wanted to get together," I said.

"Yeah, definitely. I'd actually already planned on being there," Jacob said, and I once again heard that buzz of excitement in his voice that he'd had the last time we spoke.

"Great. Well, Ang's going to be here to pick me up soon, and I totally overslept, so I'll see you a little later, okay? I've got to finish getting my stuff together."

"Yeah, see you later. It'll be great!" Jake said, seeming to gain more energy by the minute. I laughed, shaking my head as I hung up the phone.

"Just so you know, Bella, Angela's going to be early. She'll be here in about two minutes," Edward said, "seeing as how she's just around the corner."

"Ah, crap," I muttered, sticking two pieces of bread into the toaster quickly. I waited for a minute, then heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it, love, you finish up there," Edward said, rising smoothly and walking to the front door to let Angela in as I pulled my hot toast from the toaster too quickly and burnt the tips of my fingers, causing me to drop the toast on the counter.

"Ow! Crap…" I muttered, shaking my burnt hand and more carefully using my other hand to place the toast on my plate. I grabbed a jar of peanut butter out of the cupboard, a knife out of the drawer, and quickly began to smear it over my toast as Angela and Edward walked in.

"Hi, Ang! Sorry, I'm running late this morning. I'll be ready to go in just a sec, let me just eat this quickly," I said.

"Don't worry, Bella! I'm early. Take your time. Are you coming with us today, Edward?" she asked him.

"Thanks, Angela, but no. I'm going hiking with my brothers today," he said, mostly for my benefit. I knew that 'hiking' meant 'hunting'.

"Oh, alright," she said. "Just seeing Bella off, then?" she asked.

"Yes, that's right. I thought I'd stop by this morning and make sure she was awake. Good thing I did, too. She'd still be asleep if it wasn't for me," he said, his crooked smile playing at his lips. I grumbled through my mouthful of toast, while Angela laughed.

"Alright, I'm done. Let's go," I said, directing my comment at Angela and standing up from my chair.

"Sure! I'm going to head out to the car. I'll see you there in a minute?" Angela asked.

"Yeah, perfect. I'll grab my bag and head out in a sec," I said. Angela left the room and Edward promptly swept me into his arms.

"I'll be nearby today. We are hunting, but we'll be close. I'll be back here before you go to bed tonight," he murmured, pressing his lips against my hair.

"How are you—" I began to ask.

"The sun's not an issue. Jasper and Emmett are picking me up as soon as I call them. They're almost here already, and are going to park around the corner. They'll swing in when they get here, and I'll run to the car. Don't worry, you know I'm excellent at not being seen," he said, rubbing my back gently.

"I know," I said. "I'll miss you."

"And I you. But I will see you soon enough. Have a wonderful time," Edward whispered to me, placing one finger under my chin and gently lifting it so that he could reach down and kiss me softly before releasing me. "Now go. Angela's starting to wonder if I've kidnapped you out the back door," he laughed softly as I stumbled backwards, still reeling as always from his kiss, and reached for the small bag I'd packed with a towel, sunscreen, Wuthering Heights, and a few snacks in case I remembered to eat. I backed out of the room slowly, keeping my eyes on his crooked smile until I was out of sight of the kitchen.

I shut the door and jogged out to Angela's car.

"Aren't you going to lock your door?" Angela asked me as I climbed into the passenger seat beside her and shut the car door.

"I locked it from the inside. The deadbolt is really picky, I don't usually bother with it," I said, not bothering to mention that Edward was still there and would lock it when he left.

"Oh, alright," said Angela, accepting what I said without hesitation as she started the car and pulled out of the driveway. "So, this'll be a lot of fun. A whole bunch of the kids from school will be there—I think Mike's coming, and Jess will be there. Oh, Lauren's not coming, by the way," she said, throwing me a sideways glance and grinning. My dislike for Lauren was no secret. Jessica Stanley wasn't too much better a lot of the time, but she had seemed to be a lot more friendly at the graduation party so perhaps her decision to dislike me after what happened at the beginning of the school year had changed. "And a bunch of the Quileute kids too," she finished.

"How about Ben? Is he coming?" I asked, her obvious omission of his name inciting my curiosity.

"Um…no," Angela said, her hesitation just slightly too long. I couldn't tell if I should ask further or not. She seemed to sense my curiosity, though, and continued on. "I mean, it would be a little awkward. We broke up a couple of weeks ago."

"Oh, no! Ang, are you okay? Do you want to talk about what happened?" I asked. Angela and Ben had always seemed so happy—this seemed very sudden.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Nothing happened, really—Ben's wonderful, and I do love him. Just…not in the same way, anymore," she said. "Actually…I kind of met someone else. I broke up with Ben before anything happened!" she interrupted herself quickly, almost as though I'd accused her of something, "But I've been seeing someone else since then." The look of pure joy was unmistakable on her face. "I don't know if you know him or not. But you'll meet him later on—he's coming to the beach today." She was avoiding something, I could tell as she turned up the music. "I love this song!" she said.

Dread began to build in the pit of my stomach as suddenly, the memory of a conversation returned to me.

_Sam did love Leah. But when he saw Emily, that didn't matter anymore. _

_But it's hard to resist that level of commitment and adoration._

Jacob had been very happy on the phone lately.

Angela was clearly not telling me something.

But I had to be making the wrong connection. This was too insane to be happening.


End file.
